Fate Interrupted: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Moonstone Cove Book 3) Read online

  Nico started out slow, and Megan kept waiting for the man’s patience to snap and the kiss to accelerate, but whatever self-control he’d been complaining about losing must have returned because he kept teasing her mouth.

  Slow.

  Deliberate.

  Devastating.

  Megan wanted to claw at his clothes and climb into his lap, but he did not stop his relentless seduction. He kept kissing her, teasing her mouth with nothing more than his lips and tongue while her body slowly melted into a puddle of need.

  “Nico?”

  “Mm-hmm.” He moved from her mouth to her neck, and oh my, did he enjoy her neck. The sensitive skin was covered with nips and kisses as he wrapped both his arms around her body and pulled her closer.

  “Guest room was a bad idea.”

  “What?” He pulled back.

  Her mouth was swollen, and she knew her lips were red and wanton. “Your room would be better.”

  His breath hitched. “I lied.”

  Megan blinked. “What?”

  “The kids are at their mom’s tonight. I didn’t want to freak you out or make you think I expected anything if you stayed over. I still don’t, but if you want to—”

  “I want to.”

  “Oh, thank fuck.” He pushed the truck door open, slid out, and was at her door faster than she could say Down, Sugar! Nico slung her bag over his shoulder and helped her out of the truck, letting his hand land on her ass as soon as she was walking next to him.

  He cupped her backside and let his thumb slide along the crease of her bottom, making her shiver. “Hey, Atlanta, you have any cute Southern sayings for when you come real hard?”

  Megan couldn’t stop the smile. “Put in the work and you might find out.”

  “That is one challenge I am definitely up for.”

  He guided her through the dark hall leading from the garage into the laundry room, past the silent kitchen, and down another hallway. At the end, they walked through a small sitting area that led to a spacious bedroom. A dim lamp was lit in the corner, and the room was decorated in deep greens and blues. Through the french doors, she saw lights flickering on the dark hillsides. Megan stood in the darkness and stared into the distance.

  “It’s a great view in the morning.” Nico spoke behind her.

  She turned to see him nudge the door closed with his foot. Then he started unbuttoning his work shirt.

  Megan turned to watch him. “The view isn’t too bad at night.”

  He smiled as he loosened his shirt, then tugged it over his head, unbuttoning his jeans as he walked around the foot of the bed. “You know, the minute I set eyes on you, I wanted this.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful. Bright. That smile you have… It just lit me up. Then I got to know you and I liked you even more. Your drive. Your loyalty.”

  Megan slid her hands along Nico’s olive-toned skin, sliding her fingers under the waistband of his jeans. “Oh yeah? Tell me more.”

  “Your laugh.” His breath hitched. “Your fuck-it attitude. It’s sexy as hell.”

  Dark curling hair grew on his chest, sprinkled with the same silver that grew at his temples and in his beard. His torso was solid, the muscles not defined like the young surfers on the beach but thick and heavy like a man who worked hard days in the field.

  “I wanted you too,” she said bluntly. “Then I started working for you and realized you’re a stubborn ass.”

  He chuckled and started playing with the button at the front of her jeans. “I was probably worse than usual because I was trying to keep my hands to myself and keep things professional.”

  “You?” Megan reached down and pulled up the rose-colored shirt she’d worn to work that day. “Keep things professional?” She stood in front of him, wearing nothing but a lacy pink bra with her jeans half down her legs.

  “Fuck.” Nico sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her. “You’re so damn pretty, and I want to mess you up.” He looked up, pure mischief in his eyes. “Just a little.”

  He was so different than Rodney’s carefully manicured body. Megan felt wild and greedy. She wanted to explore every inch of him.

  She leaned over and put both hands on his shoulders while he cupped her breasts. “It’s been a while since I did this, you know?”

  “Don’t worry.” That grin was going to do her in. “I know how to take my time.”

  Megan woke up the next morning curled next to a large, warm body. Her joints felt loose and languid. She drifted in and out of sleep, and in the slow, fuzzy waking moments before she opened her eyes, she registered Nico’s familiar smell, the scent of coffee, and heavy footsteps approaching her door.

  Oh, Adam must be awake already.

  That was funny. She was usually the one who had to wake Adam up. He was seventeen, and he was still terrible about his alarm clock. Trina would be up and fueled with coffee, and Adam—

  “Dad.” Heavy knocks banged on the door to her bedroom. “Hey, Dad, Beth made coffee, are you still—? Oh my God, Adam’s mom!”

  A door slammed as Megan sat bolt upright in bed. She looked down.

  Not her bed.

  Looked at the door. “Not my door.”

  Nico was blinking awake beside her. “Hey.” He was shirtless and kind of adorable, and his lips were especially full and kissable in the morning, and she had a feeling that one of Nico’s children had just gotten an eyeful.

  Thank God she wasn’t sleeping naked.

  She tapped on his growing friend beneath the sheets. “Down, boy.”

  Nico cleared his throat. “Yeah, he’s pretty excited not to wake up alone this morning, so—”

  “Yeah, normally I’d be all for good-morning nookie, but I’m pretty sure your kids came home early.”

  “What?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Looked at the door. Smelled the coffee. Looked back at Megan. “Shit.”

  “Yeah. I think the words were ‘Oh my God, Adam’s mom.’ So there is zero chance I’m going to sneak out of here anonymously.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “Good Lord, this was not a good idea.”

  “Hell yes, it was.” He took her hand from her face. “Our kids are… You know, they’re teenagers. They know we have… lives outside of them.”

  “Okay, in theory, yes. But they don’t want to know know.” She felt the bed beneath her jump to the side. “I need to calm down; I’m starting to move things.”

  “Did you do that last night? Because I swear there was a moment when you were—”

  Megan slapped a hand over his mouth. “Uh, yes. Probably yes. When I get excited or have a very strong emotional reaction, sometimes I make things move. Unconsciously.”

  Sometimes I break things or set off alarms. Don’t press your luck.

  “Right.” He sat up straighter. “I guess it’s a good thing you borrowed that shirt.” He cleared his throat. “If you want to avoid prying eyes, the french doors lead outside.”

  “Right.” Aaaaand she wanted to die. “What’s more embarrassing? Doing the walk of shame past your two teenagers or sneaking out of your bedroom after we’ve already been caught?”

  “Personally, I think we should lie back down and sleep for another hour, but that’s just me.”

  “Nico!”

  “What? And for the record, you’re a grown, unattached woman. I am a grown, unattached man. We are both responsible parents and business owners, and us having sex is no one’s business but our own.”

  Someone knocked at the door again.

  “Hey, Dad!” It was Beth.

  “Yeah?”

  “Does Adam’s mom want breakfast? I’m making pancakes, and I can totally make more batter if she wants to join us.”

  A wicked gleam came to Nico’s eye, and Megan slapped a hand over his mouth before he could respond.

  “I swear on my maw-maw’s grave,” she whispered, “if you make a batter joke right now, this will never happen again.”

  The look of disappointment on his face
told her everything she needed to know. She slowly removed her hand.

  “I need to get going,” she said to the closed door. “But thank you so much, Beth. Just a cup of coffee would be perfect.”

  “Okay!” The girl didn’t sound traumatized—she sounded chipper.

  “Why is she so happy?” Megan asked. “I know you’ve dated since your divorce.”

  Nico raised an eyebrow. “You think I’ve brought anyone home?”

  Her cheeks felt warm. “Oh.”

  He tugged on her T-shirt to pull her closer. “Yeah. Oh.”

  Chapter 20

  Megan was trying very hard not to think about what gossip might be flying around Moonstone Cove High School as she sat in her car, waiting on Drew Bisset to arrive at the police department’s vehicle impound.

  The truck was parked inside a warehouse that sat on the edge of town between an agricultural chemical storage yard and a truck depot. The chain link was topped by coils of barbed wire, and a thick chain held the gate closed. Twin cameras pointed at the driveway; Megan tried to ignore them as Drew arrived and hopped out of his Jeep to unlock the gate.

  Adam’s mom. Adam and Cami. Beth and Ethan. They were all on one campus, and even though Nico had said he’d have a talk with his children about keeping things to themselves, she had no idea how reliable that was. Beth? Beth reminded her a lot of Trina. She’d probably be fine. But Ethan?

  God help her.

  Her kids were gonna find out about her and Nico. And it wasn’t like they all hadn’t poked and prodded Megan to date again, but there was dating and then there was dating someone they knew. Who had kids they knew.

  She covered her hands with her face. “Why is life so messy?”

  Katherine asked, “What happened?”

  Katherine had taken the afternoon off work so she could see if anything in the warehouse triggered a vision. Toni had stayed home. She was starting to have Braxton-Hicks contractions every afternoon. Val had left Sully at the hotel and joined them to “read” the truck.

  “I maybe a little bit slept with Nico.”

  “Wait, for the first time? I thought you guys were already a thing,” Val said from the back seat. “You definitely have that vibe.”

  “No, I mean, we flirted a lot when we first met, but then I was working with him and he was a giant pain in the ass.”

  “Probably because he was trying to remain professional,” Val said. “Men are weird.”

  “That’s what he said!” Megan slapped her knee. “So I was kind of turned off. But not really because… sweet Lord, that man just does it for me. Even when he’s being an ass, I want to kiss him.”

  Katherine said, “I would say your physical chemistry is quite potent.”

  Drew waved at them from the gate and motioned them through. Megan started her car and pulled forward. “After our dinner last night, I stayed at his place and his kids weren’t home, so one thing led to another…”

  “I love those kind of hookups,” Val said. “They always make me feel all spontaneous and sexy.”

  Katherine smiled. “I never had that kind of… hookup. I’m a planner.”

  Megan pulled next to a faded Chevy sedan and stopped the car. “But then his kids came home early this morning and maybe they caught us—we were not naked!” She saw Drew approaching in the rearview mirror and quickly blurted out the rest. “But they clearly got the idea and now those kids are at the same school as my kids and I am severely worried about them all keeping their mouths shut and Drew is here so we can’t talk about this anymore.”

  The detective tapped on the window and Megan rolled it down.

  “Yes?”

  “Something more interesting than solving a murder going on?”

  Katherine craned her neck around Megan. “Define interesting.”

  “We’re done!” Megan put on her “everything’s fine” voice and opened the car door. “We’re good. Just discussing… Toni.”

  “Toni?” Katherine asked.

  “Yes, and her contractions,” Val said. “We were debating whether she’s going to end up delivering early. She’s only two weeks out at this point.”

  Drew nodded. “Yeah, she could be anytime then. My wife was three weeks early with the girls, but they’re twins and twins are usually early, so we were expecting that.”

  “And Toni could be early because she’s carrying Henry’s giant offspring. And we were discussing that,” Megan said. “Which was interesting.”

  Drew looked from one innocent face to the next with an expression set between “sick of your bullshit” and “losing patience fast.”

  “I don’t believe any of y’all,” he said. “Will you get out of the car and come do your psychic thing with this truck? Or should we just go home now?”

  “Sure. Fine.”

  “Of course.”

  Detective Bisset had clearly not had enough coffee yet.

  “Calling us liars…,” Val mumbled. “I’m doing you a favor here.”

  “Let’s get one thing straight.” Drew turned and faced them. “Don’t pretend you’re doing me a favor. Your focus is on finding Nico and Henry’s grapevines. You would have no interest in this murder otherwise. So please stop acting like this is some public service and you’re being oh so generous with your time and attention.”

  He turned to continue walking, but Megan put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

  “What?” he said.

  “You’re irritated with us, and I think it maybe has to do with us not being up front about our psychic abilities before now. And that’s understandable. We should have trusted you. But speaking for myself and Katherine—I can’t speak for Val—we really are still figuring all this stuff as we go.”

  Katherine nodded. “That is very accurate.”

  “I can barely move a beer bottle,” Megan said. “That trick I did last night? That’s like my most sophisticated thing. Moving a bottle or a glass. I can’t catch someone in midair or pick a lock or anything really cool. Maybe I’ll be able to someday. Hell, I’d love to fold a load of laundry with my brain. Or do the dishes. Wash the toilet. But so far I can kind of only use it as a blunt instrument. And blunt instruments have limited uses. Plus I haven’t even told my kids yet, so was I hesitant to tell you? Of course I was.”

  Drew didn’t budge. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Katherine. “What about your visions?”

  “My visions are so unpredictable that they’re nearly useless too.” Katherine looked disappointed. “I’m working on it, but they’re very in the moment. They happen more when my adrenaline is high, I do know that. But I’ve told you all the ones that had anything to do with crimes.” She frowned. “At least I think I have.”

  Val stepped forward. “I don’t know you, but you seem like a decent detective. Even so, you have to admit that the police don’t have the best track record of listening to women with psychic abilities. You and I both know that. Cut these gals a little slack. It takes a while to get used to all this stuff.”

  Drew seemed slightly mollified. “Fine.”

  “Good,” Val said. “Now that we’re all friends again, can we go take a look at this truck? I’d like to get a read on it before I get any hungrier.”

  Val got in the driver’s seat first. She put her ungloved hands on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. “Panic. He wasn’t expecting this. None of this is going like he expected. It’s gotten completely out of hand.”

  Drew was standing near Val with his pen and notebook out. “Male driver. Did he plan it?”

  “He feels very out of control. He’s got someone in the back of his mind. I can’t get a clear picture of who it is though. But someone else is in charge, I’m sure of it. He’s not comfortable with this feeling. He hates it. Hates feeling powerless.”

  “Do you have any sense of what he looks like?”

  “No.” Val opened her eyes and looked at Drew. “People rarely think about how they look. Unless I have a memory of someone else looking at
him or I can get a flash of memory near a mirror, I don’t usually get looks.”

  “Okay.” Drew was nodding. “Keep going.”

  Val sat silently in the driver’s seat for a few more minutes. “He jarred his ankle when they were driving off-road. It’s aching. Not a break or anything like that, but he feels it.”

  “How do you jar your ankle driving?” Drew asked.

  “If you were going over a lot of bumps,” Megan offered. “Maybe?”

  Katherine said, “I still have a weak ankle from our attack at the gym. Sometimes if I just walk on it funny, it’ll twist.”

  Drew raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Oh!” Megan blinked at the realization. “He must be older. You can’t relate to this. You’re in your midthirties. He’s older; probably closer to fifty than thirty.”

  Val nodded. “That feels right. He’s older.”

  “Okay…” Drew wrote more notes. “Anything else you’re getting?”

  “Not from the cab. It wasn’t his vehicle. They stole it, so I’m mostly getting his memories in the moment of the crime. He’s not comfortable with any of it. He’s really nervous. I don’t think he’s done anything like this before.”

  “New criminal,” Drew said. “Okay. That’s helpful.” He glanced at the back. “There’s a lot of blood in the back. Are you sure you want to look at it?”

  Val’s face was set as she climbed out of the truck cab. “Trust me, I’ve seen shit off corpses that would make you run screaming. Blood is not the worst of it.”

  Megan suddenly felt like a kid at the grown-ups’ party. “Val, let us know if you need help with anything.”

  “Yeah.” She walked to the back of the truck and climbed up on the stepladder leading to the tailgate. “Maybe one of you can get back here with me. I have fallen before if the feelings or images are too violent.”

  Megan ran up the steps and stood next to Val. “I can use my telekinesis as an extra boost when I’m holding something. I’ll catch you if you fall.”